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I often mention the Sabian symbols in my articles as a way of showing the deeper meaning of an eclipse or other event. If this is a new concept for you, it may be helpful to you to understand what the Sabian symbols are.

The Sabian symbols came into being in 1925 when renown astrologer Marc Edmund Jones teamed up with clairvoyant Elsie May Wheeler to produce the symbols. At an unknown date in 1925, they met in Balboa Park in San Diego, California to work out the meaning of all 360 symbols. Marc picked cards at random from a deck of 360 white, unlined 3” x 5” index cards with a degree (1 degree through 360 degrees) of the zodiac written on each one and placed it face down in front of Elsie. Neither person knew the degree written on the card. Elsie psychically reported her vision for each card as Marc quickly wrote her interpretation on the card. Marc later wrote a book about the experience entitled The Sabian Symbols in Astrology. Dane Rudhyar, considered by many to be the greatest astrologer of our time, endorsed the symbols and helped make them popular. Astrologer Lynda Hill is the modern expert on the symbols.

When I first heard of the Sabian symbols, I thought they were fascinating but I doubted whether they really worked. Through testing the Sabian symbols over time, I have come to appreciate the amazing, nuanced insight they can add to an interpretation of a degree of the Zodiac or to a number in numerology.

You can have fun with this by looking at your chart for significant degrees. For instance, if you have the Sun at a certain degree of the Zodiac it might be enlightening to look up the Sabian symbol for that degree. However, there is a twist here; you always use the degree following the degree in question. The reason for this is because the Zodiac starts at zero degrees and zero minutes of Aries and the symbols begin at one degree of Aries.

This can be a little confusing, so here is an example: If your Sun is at 18 degrees, 20 minutes of Taurus, the Sabian symbol for your Sun would be the symbol for 19 degrees of Taurus, “A new continent is arising out of the ocean.” This might describe a person who often has new opportunities arising, but not without a certain amount of chaos and disruption.

The degree before is the karmic symbol for the significant degree. In the above example, with the Sun at 18 degrees, 20 minutes of Taurus, the karmic symbol for the Sun would be 18 degrees Taurus, “A woman airing an old bag through a sunny window to give it air and sunshine.” The karmic meaning for the Sun would be the need to regularly clean out old habits, possessions and ideas. This is especially apt for Taurus, who often likes to tightly hold on to things.

Putting the two together, the interpretation for this Sun could be along the lines of “You are a person who has a certain amount of luck in attracting new opportunities but going after those opportunities can sometimes cause anxiety and a sense of disruption because your natural tendency is to hold on to the status quo.”

Have fun with the symbols. You will be surprised how often they shed light on an otherwise obscure meaning.